Coquihalla Pass

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Coquihalla Summit
Elevation	1,244 metres (4,081 ft)
Location	British Columbia, Canada
Range	Canadian Cascades
Coordinates	49°36′N 121°3′W / 49.6, -121.05Coordinates: 49°36′N 121°3′W / 49.6, -121.05
Traversed by	Highway 5 (Coquihalla Highway)

Coquihalla Summit (el. 1244 m.) is a highway summit along the Coquihalla Highway in British Columbia, Canada. It is the highest point on the highway between the cities of Hope and Merritt. It is located in the middle of near the toll booth plaza on the Coquihalla Highway, about 50km north of Hope, and 65km south of Merritt and is the divide between the Coquihalla River and the Coldwater River, a tributary of the Nicola, which is a tributary of the Thompson River.

The ascent to the Coquihalla Summit is very steep, especially from the south. The ascent is particularly steep after passing northbound through the Great Bear snow shed.

[edit] History

The pass was first used in 1986 after construction of the first phase of the Coquihalla Highway (from Hope to Merritt). The pass was previously in use by the southern mainline of the Canadian Pacific Railway, generally known as the Kettle Valley Railway, parts of the roadgrade of which are now part of the Trans-Canada Trail network, including the Othello Tunnels of the Coquihalla River section, which are accessible via exits from the Coquihalla Highway.

It is named after both the Coquihalla Highway and the Coquihalla River, after which the highway also derived its name. Kw'ikw'iya:la (Coquihalla) in the Halq'emeylem language of the Stó:lō, is a place name meaning "stingy container". It refers specifically to a fishing rock near the mouth of what is now known as the Coquihalla River. This rock is a good platform for spearing salmon. According to Sto;lo oral history, the skw'exweq (water babies or naiads, underwater people) who inhabit a pool close by the rock, would swim out and pull the salmon off the spears, allowing only certain fisherman to catch the salmon.